157-177. The first, is to become a cultured man, like Jean, The second, is to participate in the hysteria surrounding the first appearances of the rhinoceroses. Aug 15, 2017 - Explore Walter Giesbrecht's board "Ionesco Rhinoceros posters" on Pinterest. In this Post-Work Society section of Indarktimes, we explore the issue of post work in both of its major modes: theorizing the end of work because of the trajectory of advanced technological capitalist society, and challenging the priority of the work ethic, and celebrating the value of non-work activity. And using this same method, Martin Luther was among the first to politicize the…, The Monster in Theater History: The Thing of Darkness, Eugène Ionesco’s Rhinoceros: Human Transformation & Moral Horror, Interview Part 3: Rhinoceros & Theatrical Horror, Interview Part 4: Rhinoceros, Moral Horror & the Sublime, Goldilocks Won’t Grow Up: a Liberal Centrist Fairytale, American Liberalism has a Fascist Problem, Re-Weaving the Social, Part 2: On the Exodus from Wage Labor (5 of 5), Re-Weaving the Social: The Struggle Against Labor in the Digital Age (4 of 5), Arendt & Marx on Labor & Emancipation (3 of 5). I’m interested in the way that we represent things that are fearful or horrific in culture. The reaction to the rhinoceros was much like that to the German occupation in 1940. Jean declares that “It [the rhinoceros] shouldn’t be allowed!” (19). And they toured it around, and the ‘mascot’ of this exhibition was a painting that had been done by the propagandists of a character which is a monster. "RHINOCEROS", 1958, by Eugene Ionesco, from an American high school production. And these include the plays of Beckett like Waiting for Godot for instance, and in America Arthur Kopit–and Ionesco was grouped with these guys in which the plays seemed to articulate some sense of complete disconnect from any kind of overriding moral framework that that made the universe make sense. She grows more and more unhappy with Berenger’s harsh views of the herd, and says to him, “[t]hose are real people. Beckett then goes on to count the ways: as subsistence (i.e., the problem of the working poor); as a source of social mobility and self-worth (graduates making you a latte); as precarious; as pointless, and even socially damaging; as incredibly stressful, and thus bad for your health; as poorly distributed (people have too much or too little); and finally, as endangered, and facing extinction due to automation. They were just scary because of their implacability. All these ideas were portrayed metaphorically throughout Rhinoceros. MC: There you go…and now there can be no doubt that all over the Western world, people are falling back into these patterns, and not hesitantly, and not ignorantly. Required fields are marked *. Daisy is soon no longer concerned with the dust and noise that the rhinoceroses make, and is more fixated on “adapt[ing] [. Eugene Ionesco’s seminal absurdist satire, “Rhinoceros,” is staged by Pacific Resident Theatre in a disconcertingly timely revival. One of the things that I document in my book which I think is relevant to our discussion today–if I can sort of foreshadow what we are going to talk about—is how in the 1930s the Nazis in Germany began touring an exhibit of degenerate art. TS: Before diving into our topic of Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros, please tell us a little bit about yourself and your work as a professor of theater arts…. What’s up with that? He tried to write a dissertation on the moral foundations of modernity, and couldn’t finish the last section on Hope, because he didn’t have any. At the same time, Ionesco also attacked in Rhinoceros the French intelligentsia, a disproportionate number of whom were proud members of the French Communist Party in the 1950s. He is close friends with a man named Jean, who is a self-proclaimed man of culture. It's a joy to see this modern classic on stage. Quinney, Anne. In Rhinoceros, as in his early plays, Ionesco startles audiences with a world that invariably erupts in explosive laughter and nightmare anxiety. His transformation quickens when he becomes apathetic to the idea of becoming a rhinoceros ("I'm all for change"). Berenger is terrified of transforming into a rhinoceros, and stands strong in his individuality until the end of the play. The title of the play, therefore, is significant because it captures the idea that Ionesco wants to … In an effort to describe the rhinoceros to Botard, Daisy, the typist and Berenger’s love interest, refers to them as “a very big ugly animal” (51). 2, 2007, pp. Danner, G. Richard. Naturally all of this is implied by an aestheticized politics as you just described. Dit verslag is op 29 mei 2005 gepubliceerd op Scholieren.com en gemaakt door een scholier (6e klas vwo) Rhinoceros begins in a small town square where Jean, an efficient, refined young man, meets his semi-alcoholic and fully apathetic friend, Berenger, for a drink. Another vehicle that Ionesco uses to convey his ideas is the character of Berenger. And there are really three that keep coming up. It functions as Absurdist on many levels, but the work is not ‘absurd’ as we might normally think of the word. It is in the second scene of Act Two that attitudes begin to shift. “The Theatre of the Absurd.”  The Tulane Drama Review, vol. And then I had this moment where it occurred to me that I actually knew somebody who had recently written a book about–among other things–what it means when people undergo monstrous transformations in literature, film and theater–so I thought I would ask you if you would talk to me about it. Tedd Siegel has lived as a street activist in San Francisco in the 80s; as an aspiring academic in New York City in the 90s; as a Silicon Valley program manager in the 2000s; and now works in business development and strategic partnership management during the present decade. It’s different in different places, but in any case—. Michael Chemers recent book is The Monster in Theater History: The Thing of Darkness, published by Routledge (2018). TS: But it’s written in the 60s, so the reaction to it seems to be coming from a place of relative safety. The rhinoceros, then, represents the transformation that the people in a society go through, a transformation so extreme that they seem to mutate into something that is not human at all. He is happily married to his partner of more than 20 years. Rhinoceros. She even goes as far as to say later that the rhinoceroses are “like gods” (121). Esslin, Martin. The primary purpose of this paper is to be able to analyze the Play Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco in the light The transformation of Berenger from an apathetic, alcoholic, and ennui- ridden man into the savior of humanity constitutes the major theme of Rhinoceros,and the major existential struggle: one must commit oneself to a significant cause in order to give life meaning. There’s an inability to know how to respond. London: Methuen, 1982. He attended a Ph.D program in philosophy, working in the area of the philosophy of modernity, specifically on topics in moral and political philosophy. It is quite clear that Berenger has no true plans on how to proceed against the rhinoceroses, other than with a vague idea of violence. 3, Fall 2007, pp. All rights reserved. MC: The point here is that this figure of the Eternal Jew, historically a figure of pity, got transformed in the Nazi period through aesthetic representation into an object of extreme hatred, one used to incite violence. Dudard asks Berenger to try and be more light-hearted about the situation. I think that the significance of this community response is something that we’re appreciating more and more now. The public reaction to satire led to the formation of the Theatre of the Absurd, which portrayed satirists’ worldviews in such a way as to be in contrast with the realistic plays of the time (Esslin 293). . A Bible “comic book” was the only kind of book that illiterates were capable of ‘reading’. Jean continually exhorts Berenger to exercise more will-power and not surrender to life's pressures, and other characters, such as Dudard, seem to do just that as they control their own destinies. The political angle of the play speaks to how Ionesco found his own friends and colleagues equally as two-faced, and hypocritical when faced with the German forces in wartime France. People looking back were trying to make sense of what happened–how did we get from being this culture that loved art and music and food and turning into–. Rhinoceros is a commentary on Nazism and a result of Ionesco's experiences with fascism, yet it is extremely readable, if one remembers not to take it to seriously. We might dig even earlier in history and note how the Chinese alphabet began with pictograms (narrative through images), which transform over time into the logograms, and eventually into the written forms of the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages. All the characters have a strong, vocalized opinions on the rhinoceros at all times. The question remains, however, if this kind of action is really superior at all. As characters transform into rhinoceroses before Berenger's very eyes, Ionesco lends specificity to his strange, abstract metaphor. Several different physical objects fall or are destroyed in the play, adding to the violent visual effects of the rhinoceros. All the characters, except Berenger, exhibit this quality, and they all eventually transform into a rhinoceros, at which point they have literally become two-faced. And if this understanding might appear to overplay the age and gravitas of the “low culture” comic as an art form, it surely does not overstate the power of narrative art. The recent review in the LA Times says that the play is about “horror at the fragility of norms and the easy surrender of humanity.” That’s not too bad at all. TS: I was in a dramatization of one of the radio plays, All That Fall, and I did Beckett in drag, playing Mrs. Rooney. In Act One, when the rhinoceroses were first seen, Berenger tried to logically explain their presence in the town. So, Ionesco, in his writings, said that he never wanted to be categorized as absurdist—because dreams, and irrationality and chaos are actually the way that we experience the world. Many French people joined the French Communist Party and showed support for Nazism. Botard is indignant that the rhinoceros do not exist at all, and claims that they are a myth (Ionesco 54). Ionesco was an iconic satirist in his lifetime and wrote several absurdist plays, one of which is called Rhinoceros. There is extreme pressure on Berenger to conform, and in two ways. So, for instance, he and Bertolt Brecht were in Paris at the same time and he very much wanted to meet Brecht, who was of course a very strong political writer, and Brecht refused to meet with him because Ionesco had been grouped in with the absurdists and the absurdists were being called apolitical. The Natural World Identity. MC: I think what has changed is the way that we as a culture understand absurdism. Thus, Ionesco presents his themes through the interaction between all of the characters as they reveal themselves to be completely irrational. But I I’m reading this with a feeling of unfolding horror throughout the play. 4 May 1960, pp. It is quite clear in understanding the position Ionesco was in while writing this play, that he found a voice in Berenger, and that he considered himself the steadfast individual in his own situation. TS: I have to admit that in the second year of Trump I’m incapable of even reading it that way—maybe if I saw it staged for laughs I would understand it like that in the end. Yet looking at the early reviews, the comedic aspect is really foregrounded. I’m a big fan of In Dark Times, and since I am a theater-based scholar, I’m all in favor of dialogue! The Compass Rose: Explorations in Thought. The play employs many aspects of the Absurd, from surrealism, to pataphysics, to Dadaism, while weaving in some existentialist thought. Calinescu, Matei. Jean contradicts him on both these points, as travelling circuses had been banned in their town, and they are situated in a very arid area of France, and so there were no swamps for the rhinoceros to hide in (20-21). Previous Next . On this understanding we might trace the comic back to Greek friezes and Egyptian hieroglyphics. Ionesco states, He got the idea of rhinoceros when he witnessed a friend succumb to Nazism and he too calls his play an 'Anti-Nazi' play. This shocks Berenger, as he viewed Mr Papillon as a man of good standing, who was above the nonsensical goings-on. .] There was a there was a writer called Martin Esslin, a great critic and theater scholar who wrote a book called Theater of the Absurd in the 60s, and what he was trying to do was find some way of talking about a genre of plays that were emerging post World War II. Berenger is unkempt, while Jean wears a neat suit and chastises Berenger for being late. 3-15. So I’m really interested in the way that playwrights over the years have used monstrous characters and monster situations to convey important pieces of information about their culture and about themselves–what they fear and what they love. Ionesco's Rhinoceros is as relevant as ever Almost 50 years after its British premiere, the absurdist drama is back at the Royal Court. TS: You know, just last night—quite by accident– we were half-watching the Tom Cruise remake of “The Mummy.” And at some point, toward the end, Matt said, “Oh, my God, this movie is about a weremummy! “Perhaps the rhinoceros escaped from the zoo,” he said (Ionesco 20), but Jean reminds him that they have had no zoos since the “the plague … ages ago” (20). Through his writings, which have been translated into several languages, this model has become popular around the world. Do you agree that in the context of the theater, caring, understood as experiencing and expressing empathy, naturally tends toward what the Germans call ‘gemeinschaft’–which gets translated as ‘community’ but means something more that? The scene progresses with Daisy and Berenger confessing their love for one another, and deciding to come together as a united front of humanity in a world consumed by animals. Print. Rhinoceros is a play of extremes. However, one by one, each succumb to the appeal of joining the ever-increasing herd of rhinoceroses in the town, until only Berenger remains human. Your email address will not be published. And in his solitude, there is no one to guide him. It turns out that the supposed joke he told changes a lot over time, which itself is actually very funny—one of the things I’m really interested to find out is exactly what the joke was that he told. That’s great. By Eugène Ionesco. © 2021 In Dark Times. What is even more bizarre is that these are not ordinary rhinoceroses but people who have been victims of "rhinoceritis". He believes his worst fears may be about to come true. Hamlet. Dudard later reveals that Mr Papillon has transitioned into rhinoceroses. All the characters, except for Berenger, speak in cliches through the first act, with exclamations such as,“Well, of all things!” which is frequently repeated. Boekverslag van het boek Le Rhinoceros (Eugene Ionesco) voor het vak frans. Michael is the founder of the ‘Ghost Light’ model of dramaturgy: a muscular, creatively engaged, artistically vibrant approach to dramaturgy that requires thorough historical understanding, theoretical training broad and deep, and a passionate dedication to creating powerful, relevant performances of all types. And not just theater. 2, 1979, pp. These above mentioned images have such an appeal that Ionesco titled his first political play Rhinoceros. This is very disconcerting to Berenger. This was not the case, however, and his town was instead confronted with large, unruly creatures, who left a great deal of damage in their wake. It is a critique of society, often in such a way as to make humans and their actions laughable or absurd. Ionesco's use of the Gürova 3 rhinoceros as a poetic metaphor of the essential savagery of human beings and also of the meaninglessness of the universe can be given as an example. MC: Yes, in a production of The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman directed by Danny Shay. Or perhaps he was right, and one can only find true satisfaction by maintaining their individual beliefs. And you can see how this would make sense for people who had lived through the horrors of World War II, particularly in Europe. 4, no. Then I put it aside for about a year and a half to do other things, but I knew I’d be coming back to it. In the later middle ages, in an effort to bring the teachings of Christianity to the illiterate, Pauper’s Bibles were produced, depicting the major stories of the Bible in block cut images. Right now, zombies are fast and they can sometimes make decisions and they come in hordes and even my wife and I have been binge watching “I, Zombie” where the zombie winds up becoming like a persecuted minority within society. MC: Yes exactly. The drastic switch in view continues and develops in the final act of the play. Michael researches the “dramaturgy of empathy,” a wide-ranging and interdisciplinary inquiry that seeks to understand how performance culture moves ideas about compassion and kindness (and conversely, fear and hatred) through social networks. “Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles /And by opposing end them” (Shakespeare 3.1.1751-1753)”, we do not know. Even more extreme, Dudard and Daisy changed their minds within the span of a few moments, making them perhaps the most fickle characters of all. Berenger then offers the explanation that the rhinoceros had escaped from a travelling circus, or had been hiding in the surrounding swamps (20-21). There seemed to be no other rhyme or reason to it. This was true as well, to the German occupying forces. Not just because of the pull of the politics, but because I think they’re beautifully written plays and very powerful; but rhinoceros in particular because it’s also a very funny play. In general, I’m very interested in the human experience of empathy and what it is that makes us feel kindly towards one another and what it is that is the opposite of that, which is fear. Philip Brandes reviews. Rhinoceros, quasi-allegorical play in three acts by Eugène Ionesco, produced in Germany in 1959 and published in French the same year as Le Rhinocéros.. At the play’s outset, Jean and Bérenger sit at a provincial café when a solitary rhinoceros runs by them. Your email address will not be published. Berenger began the play with a sort of unconcerned apathy towards the rhinoceroses, and yet ends the play in angry opposition to them. They’re content to be what they are. Previous Next . And it was it was art about Jews, and art by Jews and other so-called enemies of the state. Penguin Books. Translated by Derek Prouse. And specifically, I’m interested in monsters. During the occupation, the French people were surprised to not be immediately “shot down in the streets” (Quinney 47). He leaves quite quickly, and then transforms into a rhinoceros. 2000. Similarly, the townspeople in Rhinoceros were scared and appalled at the presence of the rhinoceroses, in Act One, as discussed above. 53, no. Jean, Botard, and Mr Papillon changed their minds on the matter of rhinoceroses within the span of a day. When it is revealed that their coworker, Mr Boeuf, has turned into a rhinoceros, the comments do not get any kinder. Jean continually exhorts Berenger to exercise more will-power and not surrender to life's pressures, and other characters, such as Dudard, seem to do just that as they control their own destinies. Ionesco’s play foreshadows fascism and conformity in Europe and this production is a vibrant physically acted philosophical debate of the consequences. There was, however, a large element of conformity, and to an extent mob-mentality, among the townspeople. Berenger remains steadfast throughout Rhinoceros. At this point, Berenger has secluded himself to his home, as the herd of rhinoceroses outside continues to grow. When Daisy arrives, she brings news that Botard has also become a rhinoceros. Ionesco, human reasoning is incapable of bringing order into the world because it itself amounts to nothing but nonsense. Berenger does not have great conventional will … Clearly, these first audiences thought this was some sort of light-hearted farcical romp. This aspect of choice is important to note, as it differentiates between succumbing to the stronghold of an occupying force, and deciding that the occupying force offers something enticing, or more preferable, than what already stands, even if that offer directly opposes a current way of life.